


Here, There, And Everywhere.

by AutumnBlueWylde



Series: The Great Escape [3]
Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-27
Updated: 2016-10-03
Packaged: 2018-07-27 01:13:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 7,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7597618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AutumnBlueWylde/pseuds/AutumnBlueWylde
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Gangsey go international. The summer after Adam's second year at college, before Gansey, Blue and Henry go to college. Their first group holiday. Blue and Adam's first time out of the USA.</p><p>This is based near where I live, so hopefully the descriptions will be okay :)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Manchester was miserable. A stark contrast to New York, where 8 hours previously, the weather had been so unbearably warm. The sky was grey, it was raining and cold.

"What the fuck?" Ronan remarked, stepping down the metal stairs, boots making sure he made the most noise of anyone getting off the plane. His head was tilted back, his left hand shielding his eyes, his top lip raised in a half snarl. He lowered his hand and hunched his shoulders agaisnt the rain. "It's fucking August." He muttered.

Gansey, too tired at 7am to reply, waved his hand in acknowledgement of Ronan's annoyance. He wrapped his arm around Blue, who had hold of Henry's hand. Ronan grabbed Adam's hand as they walked into the terminal's luggage claim.

********************************

The drive was brutal. At 10 in the morning, Gansey had expected traffic on one of England's busiest motorways, but it was bumper to bumper, no one was moving. Gansey had hired a Prius, much to Ronan's chagrin, so it was a cramped ride. Blue had fallen asleep on Ronan's shoulder, and Henry on hers. Ronan was drooling on the window, Adam took a picture, then turned back to Gansey, grinning.

"How long is this supposed to take?" Adam asked, tracing the path of a raindrop with his index finger on his window.

Gansey kept his eyes on the bumper of the Ford in front of them, willing it to move. "Maybe an hour?"

"And how long has it been?"

"An hour and a half." Gansey scarcely allowed himself to glance at the clock on the dash. The Ford moved. "Finally" he whispered, under his breath.

Eventually, they passed the reason for the standstill, a multi car accident had blocked the road, by the time they got there, it was just the cars, no casualties. Had Ronan been awake, he'd have craned his head out of the window, but he, Blue and Henry were blissfully unaware, until they turned off the M60 and Adam opened his window.

The rain had gotten heavier, Henry woke first, jolting at the sudden cold spray, which woke Blue, which woke Ronan, who hit his head on the window. He sucked air between his teeth.

"Ah! Goddamn it!" Ronan rubbed his temple, Blue snickered, "Shut up, Maggot," Ronan shoved Blue into Henry, but she wasted no time shoving him back.

"Where are we?" Blue asked as she stuck her head between the two front seats, as far as her seatbelt would allow, which wasn't far.

"Coming off the motorway." Gansey said, checking his mirrors so he could change lanes.

"Ah," Blue leaned back into her seat, "How much longer? I need a shower" The boys all made sounds of agreement, Henry sniffed his shirt and made a face. Gansey checked the GPS.

"Not much longer, 30 minutes maybe."

"What? It's 10:30am, and there's still half an hour left?" Blue queried

"There was an accident, you guys slept through it" Adam said.

"Aw man, any blood?" Ronan said, turning in his seat to look back.

"Gross, Lynch." Adam said. Ronan just laughed.

"Whatever," Blue said, "just get me to a shower." Everyone in the car concurred, the stink of airplane and duty free lingered heavily on them all.

"I just want to brush my teeth," Henry said, licking his front teeth, using his phone as a mirror, "they feel furry." Again, everyone made sounds of agreement, they just wanted to be at the hotel.


	2. Tomorrow Never Knows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was sunny. So Ronan was happier. Henry was wearing abusively white Ray Bans. They had decided to leave St George's Hall until they'd done more research (which meant, until Gansey had done more research) so Blue was in charge of planning the first day.

Everyone spent the first day in the hotel. The Shankly. Which, as Gansey found out, was located not too far from a supposedly haunted building.

"Hey Jane, look" he handed her his phone when she got back from the spa. Not usually Blue's thing but, she needed a deep, deep, deep soak after the plane journey, apparently so did Henry, who strolled in behind her, towel still around his head.  
"What's this?" She asked, thumbing through the website.

"St George's Hall," Gansey said excitedly, she raised her eyebrow, she was becoming more like Calla, Gansey blamed Ronan. He waved his hand at her, a gesture for her to keep reading, she did, lips moving as she did, "it used to be a court, I think, and they'd sentence people to death. They'd hang people right on the plateau." Blue raised her eyebrow again.

"You're far too excited about that, considering you've died twice." Blue shook her still damp hair out, running her fingers through it as she did. Henry coughed, covering a laugh, but he couldn't hide his smile. 

Gansey rolled his eyes and sat on the bed, hands braced either side of him. "Don't you think it's interesting?" He ran a hand through his hair.

"Yeah, of course." Blue said at the same time as Henry said: "Good luck trying to get Ronan in there."

Gansey just scrubbed his hand down his face, "I'm hungry, let's go find the others."

Blue shared a withering look with Henry, even though Gansey seemed defeated, they knew they'd end up going to this hall, they'd follow their King off he edge of the world, after some argument from Blue that there is no edge and they were all stupid.

************************************

In The Bastion, the name of the hotel's restaurant, Blue and Adam stared at the menu warily, Blue didn't know what the hell dauphinoise potatoes were, but she was sure she would pronounce it wrong, so she just got "The Famous Shankly Burger" which, when it came, looked fancier than any burger needed to be. Naturally, all the boys got steak.

Ronan sulked at the giant mushroom that sat atop his like a flat cap. "It's going in my mouth, not throwing newspapers around Chicago in the 30's." Adam and Henry choked on their cokes.

After their meals, Gansey got his phone back out and proposed St George's Hall again, this time, with everyone present. Adam was really interested, Ronan was not, but since Adam was up for it, he kept his mouth shut, but scowled all the way back up to their room.

"What?" Adam said as he got out of the shower, Ronan still scowling, reading a complimentary news paper, The Echo (left in a rack by their door), boots kicked up on their bed. Adam shoved them down and sat next to Ronan.

"I don't want to go looking for ghosts." He sighed heavily.

"Why?" Adam asked, turning to face him, shuffling so the towel would keep him covered.

"Because," Ronan lowered his head, lifting just his eyes to meet Adam's, "I'd rather be here with you." He winked, pulling Adam in for a kiss, but he moved at the last second and Ronan ended up kissing his neck instead, Adam laughed, a deep, breathy laugh.

"Ronan." He pushed his shoulder slightly.

"What?" Ronan mumbled into the dip above Adam's collarbone. Adam pushed him the whole way off.

"Ugh, fine." Ronan heaved himself into the pillows on the bed, throwing two onto the floor so he could lie back properly. "It's because of Noah."

"Noah?"

"Yeah, okay? Noah." He seemed angry. Or upset. Or anxious. Adam couldn't tell. "Look," He sat back up, crossing his legs, holding his hands infront of him, playing with the leather bands around his wrist, "Noah is the only ghost we've ever seen. That whole year, everything, it's a dream now, a misty memory, but Noah," he dropped a hand, rubbing the other over the stubble on his head, letting it rest on his neck, "he was one of us, man, you know? Our best friend. And I can't stand the idea of anything shattering that." Adam took Ronan's hand. In the two years they'd been together, the five years they'd been friends, this was the most he'd ever seen of Ronan, except with Opal. But it didn't last long. His stony expression returned and he said, "Jesus, I'm such a girl, don't tell Blue I said that." He kicked his boots of as Adam laughed at the last comment.

"I didn't realise you felt like that, Ro." Adam smiled, lying next to him.

"Obviously. But I mean, he let me throw him out a window. How could I not?" Adam laughed again.

*****************************************

"Get up!" Blue threw the curtains open, sun light landed directly on Henry, who then hissed at her, she pulled tongues at him, Gansey pushed his face further into his pillow, she pulled the covers off of him.

"Jesus, Jane!" She was laughing, maniacally, already dressed. Her hair, cut short again during their Venezuela trip ("My neck is melting, Gansey, I'm cutting it." Gansey had tried to talk her out of it, since all she had were the scissors in their first aid kit, but she did it anyway, it worked well, since she'd had it in a pony tail, it layered itself and was back to spiky normal) was sticking out in all ways due to about ten thousand little clips she'd stuck in it. Gansey checked his watch, "It's 9 OClock!"

"Exactly. Up!"  
***********************************

It was sunny. So Ronan was happier. Henry was wearing abusively white Ray Bans. They had decided to leave St George's Hall until they'd done more research (which meant, until Gansey had done more research) so Blue was in charge of planning the first day.

"Right," she'd said at breakfast, which thankfully, was just cereal, "today, we're shopping!" She grinned at her spoon of Coco Pops before shoving it in her mouth, the boys all groaned, Ronan looked visibly shocked and pained, which amused Adam.

"Shopping, Jane? Really?"

"Yes, _Dick_ ," he winced, "shopping."

"I wouldn't have thought that that was your idea of fun. I thought you hated shopping?" Adam said.

"Normally, yeah" more coco pops, Gansey was happy her diet no longer consisted of just blueberry yoghurt, sans blueberry, "but, I heard that Liverpool is one of the best places to shop in Britain. There's the big shops, shops we don't have in America, and little, weird boutiques."

"Good God." Ronan near enough slammed his head on the table, the silverware clinked and the bowled clanked, people stared.  
Their first stop was a centre called St Johns. It wasn't all that great. Mostly shoe shops crammed to the brink with shitty quality trainers and heels even strippers would think twice about, but it was cheap. Blue found a shop in the market place on the second floor that sold fabrics, and bought a few meters of 6 different type of material in all colours. Gansey was intrigued and terrified to find out what she would do with it all.

Ronan sulked behind them all, boots dragging on the floor past the food court, out into the street where an animal rights activist group tried to stop them to "help save the rhino's! Only a tenner a month!" but stopped when Ronan practically growled at them, which annoyed Blue.

Eventually, they had traipsed up and down the city centre for hours, having gone through the city's more expensive shops, Ronan bought new Dr Martens, Henry fell in love with Pretty Green and bought several hideous shirts. Gansey was contemplating Victoria's Secret until Blue shot him a look, he was going to get her something online, anyway.

The final shop, which they nearly walked past, had Adam not spotted the dresses in the window, was Blue's favourite, Grand Central. It was a shoddy old theatre on the outside, filled with forty or fifty small shops. Clothing, games, a tarot reader (whom Blue poopooed without even going in "pfft, if it's not my mom, Calla or Persephone, I don't care" then she and the others went silent and stone faced at the mention of Persephone's name) there was even a piercer and tattooist in there, Ronan tried to egg Adam on to get one, then, when he wouldn't relent, Gansey, who also said no, but Blue did get her nose pierced while Gansey was in the game store, Level Up.

"Jane!" He looked genuinely shocked, the two other people in the store looked up too, a girl and a guy, the girl had shorter hair than Blue, and the guy's was long enough for him to sit on.

"Badass, Sargent." Said Ronan, who made a fist to bump hers, which she did.

"I don't like it." Gansey said.

"You wouldn't" Blue practically sneered, more playful than malice. The girl laughed, the guy hit her arm and she stopped herself, looking back through the Atari games, Blue smiled at her, "Are you getting anything?"

Gansey was looking in a glass case at some Nintendo 64 games, stood next to the long haired guy. "Yes" he looked at the attendant behind the counter, "how much for Doom, dude?"

The attendant looked up from sorting out what looked like Yu Gi Oh cards, "Twenty five quid" his accent caused him to skip completely over the second t in twenty, so it came out 'twennyfive" 

"Sweet." He bought the game and they left.

***************************************

Before they went back to the hotel, they found a milkshake bar, that claimed to do the best milkshakes in the entire region, so they had to try it. Also it was such a bright pink that they couldn't miss it, they probably would have gone in even without the claim.

It turned out they were pretty good. They took whole chocolate bars, biscuits and packets of sweets and blended them with ice cream.

Blue got a smoothie, she figured that with the burger and the coco pops, she could do with a healthy balance. Gansey got a shake called 'The Game Time', apparently created in one of the diners Manchester stores by rapper The Game.

"My God, even reading what's in it is giving me toothache." Blue recoiled reading the menu above the counter.

"I can't see it properly." Henry said.

"Skittles, banana, Snickers with whipped cream, raspberry sauce and pink sherbert, fucking gross, dude." Said Ronan, who just got and Oreo milkshake.

"Looking at it is giving me diabetes," Henry remarked, he got a Ne-Yo shake, M&M's and Oreo's.

Adam, (who had fallen in love with a shop in Grand Central called the Hippy Hole, he bought a tie dye t shirt and some incense) made his own, with Creme Egg, Hershey's and whipped cream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This and State Lines are both cutting into time I need for my personal project (which i may post on Wattpad if anyone is interested) so the next uploads will be heavily delayed, so I apologise for that. I'm also in trouble at work for some ridiculous reason, so I'll be doing a mental amount of over time that will delay uploads further, again, sorry.


	3. All You Need is Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They were still enjoying the bath and a bottle of wine, giggling away, when they heard footsteps from the door of the main room. Blue put her hand over Gansey's mouth, and her finger to her own, her lips making the sh shape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Smut! smut smut smut. Smut.

Back in the hotel, Blue and Gansey were alone, Henry, Adam and Ronan went looking for a bar ("The Krazyhouse looks good," Ronan had said, "two for one on Jack and Coke." Adam rolled his eyes, Henry had never been Ronan-drunk and had no idea what he was in for) and were out for the night, they had the room to themselves.

The second they walked through the door, they dropped their bags and she threw herself at him, kissing him, his face, his neck, his lips.

The way Gansey felt when he kissed Blue was a magic all of it's own. Magic because she was happy, content, relieved and in love. Magic because he knew these things, not because she told him, but because he could see them in the way she tilted her head right because he always went left. He heard them in each almost inaudible sigh after each kiss, whether it was passionate or pensive. He saw them in the way she bit her lower lip ever so slightly, still scared, before every kiss. He saw them in her sleepy smile at midnight, under the stars, where she knew he no longer had to beg. Her happiness had overflowed and filled him, and it was magic. If he was a King, she was his Queen, and she deserved to be loved like one.

He held her at arms length, taking her all in. He removed her shirt, kissing the slope of her shoulders, moving to her bare stomach, flat and tanned, the jewelry sparkling in the dim yellow light of the hotel room. Then her shorts and socks, her legs, long, even though she was not tall. She was stunning in her mismatched underwear, the blue lace bra and black panties. It was all he could do to not jump on her. She lay on the bed, beckoning him. He took his own shirt off, his absurd yellow polo, she laughed as he threw it across the room, kicking off his shoes to join her. She turned out the lights.

He was magnificent. His shoulders broad and lightly dusted with freckles that were almost invisible, similar to the sprinkling she had over her nose. He ran a hand down across her waist onto her thigh, all the while, making out, she moaned, lips still pressed against his. Her hands found the zip on his cargo shorts, and under that, she could feel how excited he was. She giggled, undoing the zip. In seconds, he was on top of her, moving down her body, taking off her underwear, kissing all the way up the inside of her thigh, she moaned again as he kissed between her legs, grasping his hair, pulling him up to face her. She kissed him again.

"I love you." She whispered against his ear as he leaned down to kiss her neck.

"I love you too, Blue." He pressed his lips hard to hers as he wrapped his arm around her, his hand at the small of her back, holding her, her body arched as he entered her. Her eyes widened, and she flipped him over so she was on top. Lit by the moonlight through the window, she was a glorious silhouette. Short hair messed up, her curves lit suggestively, her jewelry once again catching the light in such a captivating way.He really did adore her. And she him.

His hands held her hips as she moved in time to him, her face by his ear, arms around his neck, her moans ever so slight.

***********************************

Breathing heavily, Blue rolled off Gansey.

"Oh, shit!" She laughed.

"What?" Gansey said, before looking over at the other, untouched bed and realising what they had done.

"He's going to kill us." She said, standing up and walking across the room, still naked. Gansey couldn't take his eyes off of her.

"No he wont." She turned her head, looking over her shoulder and raised her eyebrow, "yeah okay, he probably will. Where are you going?"

"Shower," she winked suggestively, "do you wanna join?"

He wasted no time jumping out of Henry's bed, and running to join her in the En Suite, which had not just a shower, but a whirlpool bathtub, which they used after showering, and ordering room service.

They were still enjoying the bath and a bottle of wine, giggling away, when they heard footsteps from the door of the main room. Blue put her hand over Gansey's mouth, and her finger to her own, her lips making the sh shape.

"What th- MY BED! GANSEY!? BLUE!?"

They dissolved into hysterical laughter.

"YOU BASTARDS!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Literally never written anything this graphic before. Oh my God.


	4. Carnival of Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blue perked up again when they got to the top floor. After venturing through ancient Egypt and some prehistoric land on lower floors, they had reached the science floor. Complete with planetarium.

Breakfast the next morning was almost unbearable. Blue and Gansey were trying really hard not to laugh, Henry was trying really hard not to look annoyed, and Ronan and Adam were trying really hard not to ask, "What the hell?" Well. Adam was trying. Ronan asked anyway.

Gansey looked up from his marmalade on toast. "What?" a whisper of a smile played at the corner of his lips. Ronan just raised an eyebrow.

**************

This day was to be spent exploring the museum closest to the hotel. Liverpool's World Museum. They decided to walk through St Johns Gardens instead of taking the direct path, mostly because the back part of the gardens ran along side St George's Hall, and once Gansey has something in his sights, that's usually where it stays.

"These aren't even gardens." Growled Ronan as he pushed a low hanging branch out of his face. He was right, technically, it wasn't gardens at all. Just a large area of grass, cut through with tarmac paths and a few war memorials. However, the weather had significantly improved. Golden light pushed its way through the emerald leaves, everyone looked bejeweled in the dappled rays, like a carnival of light.

"Shut up, Ro." Adam nudged his chin against Ronan's shoulder, Ronan briefly lay his cheek on Adam's hair, allowing himself the slight indulgence of breathing in his scent.

Blue smiled at 'Ro'. She was so used to 'Lynch'. Adam's nickname for him was cute and so not Ronan.

A raven croaked overhead, Ronan's chin snapped up, _I hope Chainsaw is okay with Maura, again._ Adam stroked his thumb over Ronan's, as if knowing what he was thinking.

The museum wasn't nearly as impressive as they had thought it would be. The pictures had been so modern, they didn't realise that the pre- 19th century building before them was it. Had it not been for the signs, they'd have missed it.

Blue had been excited for the aquarium, only for them to find all the tanks were empty for cleaning.

"Where do they keep the fish, then?" Henry asked, cocking his head to the side like a confused puppy.

Adam was impressed with the large collection of crystals and insects, which just creeped Ronan and Henry out. Though Henry found the stuffed birds amusing, Ronan did not.

Blue perked up again when they got to the top floor. After venturing through ancient egypt and some prehistoric land on lower floors, they had reached the science floor. Complete with planetarium.

Adam and Ronan had literally zero interest in lying in a recliner for 45 minutes staring at some lights on a ceiling (as Ronan had so charmingly put it, though with far more swears) so they went to wait in the canteen area, where they just got some chips and a coke each.

When the other three returned, it was only one in the afternoon.

"I thought it would have taken longer," Gansey considered, remembering how long it took them to look around the Rock and Roll hall of fame on their cross America trip, "what should we do now?"

Ronan just shrugged, Adam thought, hand under his chin, elbow on their table.

"I heard someone saying earlier that you can take a ferry across the river." Was Adam's suggestion.

"River?" Asked Gansey, "Oh! The Mersey."

"What's even on the other side?" Blue asked. Since they hadn't even been down to Liverpool's iconic waterfront yet, none of them knew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while, I know, and I'm sorry.  
> I quit my job. It was my birthday, and my Instagram has been taking up a lot of my time as well as my own book.


	5. Beautiful Dreamer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taking a ferry across the Mersey!  
> And Ronan has a revelation.

The other side of the river, they found, was not much. There was a building called The Spaceport to their left when they got out of the terminal, and a run down housing estate on their right. Neither looked too appealing, so they wandered up towards an old church they could see from the terminal. Gansey's idea.

They had no way of getting in, and it was much smaller than it looked when they were actually in front of it.

Blue and Henry went into a charming little corner shop, just over the road from the church, while Gansey used Google to try and figure out, one, where they were, and two, something more interesting to do.

Blue and Henry returned, with another person. The short haired girl from the game and comic store in Liverpool.

"Hey," she smiled and waved at them all, "Blue here tells me you're looking for something to do?" She had an accent, but Gansey noticed it wasn't nearly as thick as people working in the hotel. She didn't sound like she was choking on the 'k' in _looking_.

They all nodded. A little bit dumbstuck. It had been just the five of them for so long, it was weird for them to talk about themselves as a group to a total stranger.

"Okay," she laughed, "this side of the water is boring as hell. There's very little to do, even if you have money. How did you even end up here?"

"This asshole listened in on some shit-for-brains conversation about how 'the ferry is wonderful and amazing and blah blah puke'" Said Ronan, jerking his thumb in Adam's direction, with feigned excitement for the last part of his rant.

"Hey," Adam hit Ronan's arm with the back of his hand, "Sorry, what's your name?" Gansey looked embarrassed. They hadn't even asked.

"It's Rowena," She smiled, extending her hand to shake Adam's. Her long fingers were adorned with rings of various colours, her nails made her fingers seem longer, they were sharpened to a near deadly point, painted blood red, "my girlfriend and I live just up here, if you guys want a coffee or something?" She gestured towards the other end of the church, they hadn't even noticed that behind it, was a road. Gansey, Blue and Henry nodded, eager.

***

After a long afternoon, a lot of half decent coffee and home made lemon drizzle cake, courtesy of Rowena's culinary skills, Adam was happy to be heading back to the hotel. So was Ronan.

Walking through the lobby, towards the lift, Blue was garbling on about how excited she was for the following Friday; Rowena and her girlfriend, Mikayla, had invited them to a night out, a foam party in their local bar.

Back in their room, Adam went for a shower while Ronan collapsed on top of their bed.

***

_Cabeswater?_

"Etiam, Graywaren"

_How?_

"Vos reformandam"

_When? ___

_"Somnium"_

__Oh._ _

Ronan realised he couldn't recall any of his dreams over the past year and a half. Not since Adam had started college. Of course he had started remaking Cabeswater, but after Adam had left for California, and Blue, Henry and Gansey went on the tour of the USA and then Venezuela, it wasn't a priority. He was doing everything at the Barns himself, Opal kept eating everything she could reach and Chainsaw was always a brat. 

But he knew he'd remember this. He knew Cabeswater was complete. Ronan wandered. Allowing the sun to wash him with its warm glow through the leaves, emerald in the afternoon light. Everywhere was light and airy. A stark and amazing contrast to how he last saw it. Every trace of darkness, gone. The only thing missing was the vision tree. He realised that it was because he didn't want to think of the worst case scenario. He was too happy. He wondered if it would be back in Henrietta. He lay by the creek. It was perfect. Down to the grass. It was incredible. He ran his fingers through the flowers to his left, and closed his eyes.  
He woke with a smile on his lips, and a small white flower, cupped so delicately in his left hand. 

Adam was out of the shower, reading a text book at the end of their bed. He mustn't have been asleep for long. 

"Thought you were going to sleep through dinner." 

"Half wish I had," Ronan said, sitting up, rubbing his eyes, "I can't stand the restaurant here. Way too stuck up." 

Adam half smiled, he understood. There was no need for how many words they used to say 'this is a burger' he was about to say something when there was a knock at the door. Then another. And another. The knocks didn't stop until Adam opened the door, it was Blue, grinning wide, clearly amused by herself. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will be doing the St George's Hall thing very soon. I just need to visit the real place again to get a feel for it. It's been a couple years since I've been there, and I can attest to the fact that it is indeed, haunted.  
> Also, my Latin is not up to par, I had to use translate for some of it, but it says this
> 
> Cabeswater?  
> "Yes, Graywaren"  
> How?  
> "You remade"  
> When?  
> "Dreaming"  
> Oh.
> 
> Side note: It's not very often I actually edit my work. I scan through my chapters and correct typo's and grammar, but I very very rarely actually edit the actual work. So a lot of my stuff seems raw and untidy, so I apologise, but I prefer it that way.


	6. I'm Happy Just to Dance with You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A night out like never before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AH THIS TOOK TOO LONG AND ITS SUCH A SMALL CRAPPY CHAPTER!!!
> 
> I started a new job (I probably mentioned that) and I've gone from 30 hours a week with plenty of time to myself, to working 45 hours a week, with almost no time to myself because of other commitments. BUT! I had this weekend off, and next, so hopefully I will get a lot more of State Lines done and finish this (Because its nearly done.)

Dinner, they decided, was to be had in the city centre. None of them could decide where to go, since it was late, not many places were open.

"We could go back to that pink place." Henry suggested.

"The one with the milkshakes?" Blue asked, her and Gansey were walking up front, so she had to turn to speak to him, she let go of Gansey's hand to walk backwards, fairly confident that he'd stop her from smashing her head on a lamppost.

"They did have a food menu," Adam added, "could be worth a try."

Archies, they found was the name of the pink place. They had seating upstairs and food was sent up in a small lift.

After they ordered down stairs, they went up and picked a booth in a far corner, near a window, overlooking the main street, directly into a noisy Irish bar playing music at a volume that could rival the diner's. 

Gansey didn't hesitate in taking his phone out. It was time to talk about St George's Hall. Properly.

"So," he started, "this is what I've found so far..." He launched into a lecture, explaining about possible 'hauntings' and 'sightings' around the building. He was still rambling when the waitress (a smiley girl called Margaret) brought their food and shakes over, he only shut up to eat.

"Now this," Ronan said around a mouthful of the biggest burger any of them had seen, "is what a burger is supposed to be." Everyone, mouths full, nodded and made equally gross noises of agreement.

***

Blue was excited. It was finally Friday. The day of the Foam Party. She'd been in touch with Rowena over Facebook (Gansey's, as she was vehemently against having one herself) and they were on their way to meet her and Mikayla at their house at around 8pm to get ready.

Mikayla managed to easily convince Gansey, Henry and Blue to let her swirl patterns of glow in the dark UV body paint on their faces and arms, and Blue's bare midriff, but it took chasing Adam and pinning him down while he was laughing to get a messy pink hand print on the side of his face and into his hair, as well as one of Gansey's stern but wellnatured looks to get Ronan to agree, he smushed his own hand into the green paint and pressed it to the side of his own head, into the stubble above his ear.  
When they finally made it to the club, they had to wait in a line to pay to get in. The throb of the bass, even from outside, was visibly getting Ronan riled up, the smell of Jaegermeister and soap hung in the air. Rowena had explained that half of this place was actually outside, and that's where the foam would be, they could see little puffs of bubbles floating up and over the wall from where they stood.

Inside was dark. UV lights glared and flashed from every corner, darkening all their skin, save for the paint. Blue, Gansey had noticed, looked like an ethereal pixie in a blue lightning storm. It was magical. Their two new companions got them all a JaegerBomb from the bar and, after downing them in one (Ronan and Blue had no issues, but the others choked and spluttered) they headed outside.

The foam blanketed the entire outside area, spewing from a canon inside a huge gazebo, spilling out into a seated area for smokers. Blue was amazed. They all were. This was nothing like what they've done before. Blue was still excited by the fact that she could get her own alcohol here, and not have to rely on Ronan not to have something that would burn her throat and her eyes, which was never.

The gazebo heaved and thrummed with people in time to electronica, Ronan's gaze was feral, his mouth sharpening into a wicked, wild grin that none of them had seen since Kavinsky had died, but it wasn't the same, this was excitement for a night with his real friends, not at the idea of something crashing, burning and crumbling beneath his hands at the wheel or behind his eye in slumber.

Rowena and Mikayla dive bombed the foam and were lost in the sea of people, Blue grabbed Henry and Gansey, Gansey grabbed Ronan, who grabbed Adam, and they flew into the froth and the music.


	7. Thank You Girl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Making plans and recovering from hangovers.

Blue's eye's snapped open, and she instantly shut them again. Sunlight was streaming through the window onto the floor where she was in a pile with the others, on a huge mattress, that Rowena had in her spare room, with no frame. The sudden light hurt. And it was hot. She checked the time with the unnecessarily large watch, clinging to Henry's limp wrist dangling over her waist. It was nearly 11, and they were a conglomeration of fabric, dried suds and smeared body paint, who were supposed to be visiting a supposedly haunted hall within the next hour. She heard movement from downstairs.

Rowena was making a pot of coffee, enough for at least 10 people, she smiled sleepily at Blue, waving with the hand holding the ground beans, yawning.

"Good night?" She asked.

Blue stretched, her already dangerously short cropped top inching higher as she did, "Yeah," she yawned back, covering her mouth with the back of her hand as she did, she shook out her stretch and sat at the kitchen table, "it was great." She grinned, flashing her teeth.

It had been a great night, for all of them. After getting thoroughly soaked, dancing in the foam, in front of the canon that sprayed new foam every half hour or so, they went to the bar for more JaegerBombs, where they met regulars from the local area. They marveled at their accents, a girl in the group utterly swooned over Ronan and visibly died a little inside when Adam came back from the bathroom and kissed him.

Adam drank a lot more than they had thought he would, having only been drunk once before, in that first week at college when Ronan hijacked his dorm mates whiskey. So he was all over Ronan, which amused Blue because over the course of the night, she saw several girls glower in their direction, mostly at Adam.

The music had been great aswell. The DJ, a short dude by the name Ben, who wore a white beanie hat that was reminiscent of Justin Timberlake's N*Sync days, played everything from classic rock to heavy metal, dubstep to pop punk and emo to EDM. So everyone was happy with that.

Blue couldn't really remember how they got back to Rowena's, just stuffing a handful of fries into her mouth while everyone enjoyed burgers and chicken nuggets in the McDonald's over the road at 3 am.

**********

When everyone else finally woke up (when Blue went in and jumped on them all) Gansey profusely thanked Rowena and Mikayla for their hospitality and the coffee, and called them a cab, because getting a bus, train or the ferry in the state they were in, was out of the question.

Showered and fed by 2pm, they left the hotel and made their way to the hall.

St George's Hall was bigger up close. From his hotel window, Gansey hadn't painted it as all that impressive. But with the wrought iron doors and very tall Corinthian columns looming over them, he took back his earlier opinion.

Blue suggested they walk around first, since they'd only seen the building from the west, in the gardens.

The east of the building, where the original entrance was, was far more impressive in person. Huge lions guarded each side of the plateau, with horse mounted soldiers behind them.

The entrance they took, the new one for tourists, led them in past the information office of their left, into a quaint, dimly lit cafe on their right. The cafe lacked windows, they all noticed, and were grateful for, due to their horrendous hangovers, even the usually perky Henry was quiet with his headache.

The girl at the counter, a small, pale little sylph, perked up at the sight of them, quickly busying herself so as not to appear unproductive. She was cleaning the already immaculate milk steamer on the huge coffee machine when they approached the counter.

"Hello!" She welcomed them, a little more enthusiastically than was necessary, Gansey assumed they didn't get many customers, mostly because it was the middle of the day and the cafe was empty.

"Hey," Blue drawled her reply, her West Virginian accent thick in comparison to the girl's Liverpool one. She shooed the boys away to go find a table, and they situated themselves in a corner couch table in a dark alcove.

Ronan was itching with anticipation. He hadn't told them about Cabeswater yet. He wanted to wait until they were back on Virginia soil and they could go see it in all its restored glory. He wanted to wait until Gansey was done with this, because it would only serve as a distraction. Cabeswater demanded their full attention, and it would get it.

For now, he tuned back into Gansey's rambling.

"... what do you all think? Ask the girl at the counter if she could help us out?"

Adam nodded in agreement, Henry tried to nod as best he could with his head in his hands. Blue flopped into the couch opposite them, explaining that the girl, Louise, would bring their coffees over when she'd made them. She also like the idea of asking Louise for help on how to go about looking for ghosts and such.

The cafe remained empty for the duration of their stay, allowing Louise to chat with them, and Gansey to explain his plan. She agreed and thought it was best to ask the hall's security team what they thought, and what they could do.  
After her shift had finished at 4, she went and spoke to the security team. She reappeared about half an hour later, beaming from ear to ear. The security staff had agreed to give them a tour of the whole building that night.


	8. Magical Mystery Tour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The secrets held in the tunnels of St Georges Hall...

11pm at the back door of St George's Hall. Which, even for a group of teens well used to creepy things, managed to creep them out. The back door was past an old wrought iron gate, and down a damp, dingy alleyway.

It was also cold, despite the fact that the sun had been cracking the flags all day. The sun couldn't reach down toward where they stood, so the stones had retained absolutely none of the days heat.

They were all immensely grateful when they heard the metallic slide of the deadbolt on the other side of the door, and the squeal of the old hinges as the security guard, who introduced himself as Carl, ushered them in. Both Henry and Adam blew into their hands to get the feeling back into their finger tips, Blue huddled into Gansey with her arms wrapped around herself. The building was no warmer than outside.

The teens and the guard exchanged polite small talk on the way to the security office, more Gansey than the others, and much less Ronan than the others. They talked about where they were from, why they were visiting Liverpool, why they were interested in spotting a ghost, at which point, Ronan turned from flesh to stone, every muscle in his body clenching with annoyance. Even holding Adam's hand did nothing for his mood. Though Adam had noticed, and squeezed Ronan's hand for reassurance.  
The two boys hung back slightly and had their own whispered conversation.

"Ro," Adam started, "it's okay." Ronan just grunted. "Look, if we even do see anything, it's not going to be anything like Noah. There's no lines here. No body here died on a line, no body who did die here was put to rest on a line." Ronan just blew a _pffft_ out from between his lips. Adam sighed and pulled him to catch up with the others, as the guard was telling them about some footage they caught at midnight one Christmas eve.

"So what actually happened? What did the camera pick up?" Blue asked.

"Not much, nothing spectral if that's what you mean," he chuckled, patting his hand on his rotund belly, like Santa,"no man in a white sheet." He laughed again. They were heading up the main staircase at this point, right by the cafe. He cleared his throat nervously as he realised all five of them were waiting to hear the story.

It was Christmas eve, the only night where no one is watching the camera's constantly, but one of the veteran guards decided he'd do it anyway, because it was double pay, and he'd finish at 6am. He had grabbed himself a coffee at about 11:50 and was settling back infront of the screens when movement in one of them caught his attention.

The huge iron gate by the back entrance was very slowly opening. 

"Now," The guard said, "you've seen that gate. It's massive. And heavy. Takes 3 of us to close it of a night. No way a breeze would push it open. And a strong wind would have slammed it wide open. Not slow like this."

Nothing happened for a few minutes after that, but the old guard kept an eye on that screen. He was taking a sip of his coffee when he heard a cash from outside. A huge bang resonating from the back gate, through the corridors. And not a second later, did he see why.

"The cameras are on a time delay, you see." Carl explained, noticing the confusion on Blue and Henry's faces, since they were walking along side him, and the others were behind them.

When the guard looked at the screen, the three industrial size waste disposal bins flew from one wall to another, one after the other, then down the alley way.

"Again, these things are heavy," Carl went on again, "they hadn't been emptied for a couple days, so they were full, not to mention the fact we have to make sure the brakes are on them, so wind cant even touch them." All the other guards, Carl included, were shown when they went back to work on boxing day, and they even spooked some of the cafe staff. "Poor Louise was traumatised," he laughed, "she still jumps at the slightest noise."

***

Their tour officially started when Jen, the head of the security team, took them down into the cafe, made them all coffee and explained that she would be taking them through the catacombs.

"The what?" Henry had asked.

"Catacombs," Gansey explained, "underground tunnels with rooms and alcoves carved out for graves."

"That's fucking creepy." Ronan snorted. Adam and Henry nodded their agreement, but Blue was wide eyed with excitement as they finished their drinks and headed to the entrance of the tunnels.

Gansey had packed a torch, but didn't end up needing it, as the catacombs were lit a ghastly green colour. They could see, but they felt like they were in a horror film.

Still, Blue filmed what she could.

***

After an hour of trapesing around the tunnels, they were bored. Nothing happened, but the creepiness had subsided.  
Heading back towards the back entrance, Gansey thanked Jen profusely, and offered her a payment, which she refused. But he put it in the donation box, which she appreciated.

Both Jen and Carl waved them off as they started back to the hotel.

"Well, that was interesting." Gansey chirped at the same time Ronan growled "That was fucking pointless."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ONE MORE CHAPTERRRR.  
> After this one...  
> Just to tie it all together.  
> This is not my best work and I apologise, but literally any feed back would be great!!


	9. Do You Want To Know a Secret?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ronan tells the gang when he found out when still in Liverpool.

The next morning, while everyone was eating breakfast, Blue went through the footage she filmed. Nothing. Ronan had been right. But still, it was interesting. They saw an incredible piece of Liverpools history that not even locals get to see.  
After discussing it in the car on the way back to Manchester Airport, they agree that even though they didn't see anything supernatural, it was a good night.

Ronan was not at all looking forward to being back on a plane, but he was looking forward to being back at home, with Opal and Chainsaw, even to see Maura and Calla.

***

Back in the barns, two days after arriving home, Gansey had been reunited with his beloved Camaro, Henry with the Vancouver Crowd, Adam and Ronan with Opal and Chainsaw, and Blue with 300 Fox way. As much as they had loved their time away, they were all relieved to be home.

Ronan had gathered them all in his living room to tell them about Cabeswater. When he had, they all just stared at him, eerie silence filled them room for all of two seconds before everyone started throwing questions at him. Chainsaw freaked out and flapped at Ronans head at the sudden noise and Opal hid behind Adam on the sofa.

"Fucking, shit, guys. Calm down." They all shut up, Gansey started to raise his hand until Ronan snapped his glare at it, he dropped his hand, and started talking.

"When? When did you find out it's back?"

"Yeah, and how?" Blue added.

"While we were still in Liverpool. Last week, before the foam party thing. It came to me while I was asleep, and told me. Cabeswater told me."

***

Driving out to the mountains in the late August sunshine, brought memories back to them all. 

Gansey thought of the first time they had discovered Cabeswater, the seashell Raven they saw from the helicopter. The slip in time when he thought Helen would be mad. The fish that changed colour.

Blue thought of the time it rained blue lilies. Of Aurora, of Ronan looking natural and relaxed somewhere that wasn't behind the wheel of a car.

Adam thought of the cave of Ravens and the dream tree. He shuddered, taking a glance at Gansey in the drivers seat, reminding himself that it is all over.

Ronan thought of the last time he saw it. Then tried not to think about it at all. He'd make new memories. This time with Opal and Henry. He'd never admit it, but everything felt right, and whole. Despite the loss of his mother. He couldn't wait to get there.  
Tips of trees appeared in the windscreen. Everyone stretched their heads to see. It was nothing like it was before, and every little bit the same. They were back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's finished. Phew.  
> All the Chapter Titles are Beatles songs! So is the main story Title.  
> Even though I'm not particularly impressed with this piece, I hope you enjoyed it.   
> And still, I appreciate any and all feedback!

**Author's Note:**

> State Lines is such a huge project for me that I figured I should do something small and hopefully funny, with a hint of adventure.


End file.
